The essential nutrient 50% of Baby Boomers aren’t getting enough of

According to current estimates, 1 out of every 2 Americans over the age of 60 have metabolic syndrome. And unfortunately that number seems to be growing every day. Which is why this new study is especially important.

Researchers found that people with metabolic syndrome are much more likely to be deficient in vitamin E than people who don’t suffer from this all-too-common condition.1

In case you need a refresher, metabolic syndrome is a condition characterized by high concentrations of fat in the abdomen obesity, elevated triglycerides, high blood pressure, high fasting blood glucose, and low HDL cholesterol. And it’s often a gateway to serious health issues.

The study involved 20 people—10 with metabolic syndrome and 10 without. Each group was given 15 mg of vitamin E.

Blood tests 72 hours later showed that the group without metabolic syndrome absorbed an average of almost 30% of the vitamin, while the metabolic syndrome group absorbed only 26%.

And the metabolic syndrome group had a maximum vitamin E blood concentration of 2.0 micromoles per liter, compared to 2.7 for the people without metabolic syndrome.

In other words, if you have metabolic syndrome, you won’t get as much of this essential nutrient from food or supplements as someone without it—which sets you up for deficiency.

Another reason you need more fat

So why does metabolic syndrome play havoc with vitamin E levels?

The researchers think it may be because people with metabolic syndrome have lower levels of two types of lipoproteins that help the body absorb and use E. (And they think the oxidative stress associated with metabolic syndrome could be the reason for the reduced levels of lipoproteins.)

Whether or not you have metabolic syndrome, it’s important to make sure you absorb as much of the vitamin E you get from foods and supplements as possible.

Since vitamin E is a fat-soluble nutrient, one way to do this is to take your supplements with foods that contain fat.

The researchers noted that washing down a vitamin E pill with milk increased the vitamin’s absorption. But as you may know, I don’t recommend drinking milk. It’s packed with sugar, and, as I wrote in the Nov. 17, 2014 Reality Health Check (“Got milk? Get rid of it”), research shows that drinking milk increases stress and inflammation—and can actually shorten your life.

But here’s what I do recommend—macadamia nut oil. This ultra-nutritious oil one of the best sources of healthy monounsaturated fat.

And remember, when it comes to vitamin E, all supplements are not created equal. An easy way to make sure you get enough vitamin E every day is to take my MetaMulti Advanced multivitamin, which contains 233% more E than most multis. You can order it by clicking here or by calling 1-877-899-9219 and asking for order code EOV1S2AD.